


baby you're a boat

by gotchick



Category: GOT7
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-09
Updated: 2016-08-12
Packaged: 2018-08-07 14:43:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 16,290
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7718833
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gotchick/pseuds/gotchick
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>jackson flies from hong kong to seoul to attend GOT5's first FLY concert, and meets a fellow fanboy named jaebum.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [latenightboysclub](https://archiveofourown.org/users/latenightboysclub/gifts).



> warning for cross-dressing (?) actually just jaebum wearing a wig

It's seven in the morning, Korean time, when the taxicab drops Jackson off at the concert venue, jet-lagged and grim and grimy from the short-haul but overnight flight from Hong Kong. He's dragging his bulky and unwieldy suitcase, having come straight from the airport without even time to drop by the hotel to check-in, but his chest is puffed with smug and confident triumph.

Till he sees the queue of straggling but determined-looking teenage girls already camped out in front of the barriers, a lone banner proclaiming "Markbam Fanclub Thailand" waving in the faint morning breeze.

Wait, wasn't Thailand even further from Korea than Hong Kong? Jesus, these girls were intense.

The exhaustion and time difference seems to hit him all at once. The day GOT5 announced their first official FLY concert in Seoul, he had begged his parents to loan him money, and promptly booked the most expensive front-row VIP seats so he could have the clearest possible view of Jinyoung... he meant, all five members. He wasn't usually a spendthrift, and definitely not some rich spoilt kid, but his motto had always been _Go big or go home_. After all, if he was going to splurge on the air ticket to Seoul, it would be foolish to scrimp on the concert ticket and end up with a lousy seat from which he couldn't enjoy himself.

However, there were still some things money couldn't buy. He was dismayed to find out that the hi-touch and group photo, which all VIP ticket holders were entitled to, was on a first-come-first-serve basis. This naturally placed him at an advantage compared to the fans who lived in Seoul. He could see his dreams of standing next to Jinyoung during the photo-taking, and leaning over to take a deep whiff of his scent, or even getting away unnoticed with subtly brushing his hand; going down the drain. Maybe Jinyoung would even have slung a friendly and warm arm around his shoulder, since he was a fanboy and they were more likely to let down their guard around him.

Okay, maybe he's being overdramatic, but he has to be realistic. Even though he had booked an earlier flight to Seoul, hoping to beat the other fans, now with a quick count he estimates there are at least ten fangirls already in the queue before him. There's no way he's going to get to stand beside Jinyoung, or even Mark.

Deep in his disappointed ruminations, he doesn't notice the fangirl creeping quietly, her head down and shoulders hunched into herself as if trying to be invisible, towards the end of the queue. Towards _his_ place.

"Hey!" Jackson shouts, the outraged squawk slipping from his mouth on sheer instinct. He's only a few steps away, still clutching the handle of his luggage, but it's far enough that the girl will be able to get ahead of him.

Thankfully, the girl stops in her tracks and looks up, turning towards the direction of his voice in confusion. She looks pale and nervous, as if she's doing something sketchy and is afraid someone she knows will recognize her.

Jackson doesn't waste any more time, grabbing his suitcase roughly and hurrying towards the spot-stealing girl.

"I caught you!" he huffs, panting loudly when he's in front of her, waving an accusing finger. He's usually much more gentlemanly and chivalrous towards girls, but not after a disappointment like this and when his ticket to GOT5's first concert is at stake.

The girl whips her head up, looking stunned. The hoodie falls from her forehead, revealing long dark wavy hair falling over her shoulders in twin ponytails. She hurriedly pulls it back on again, ducking her face, but not quickly enough to hide the blotches of red blooming on her tanned cheeks.

"Huh?" Her voice is surprisingly husky and deeper than Jackson expected, so low he has to lean forward to hear.

Something about her painful shyness, the obvious discomfort in her posture and the attention from the other gathered fans they have drawn with their commotion, makes the anger in Jackson melt away. He relaxes the tension in his body and sighs unwillingly, but his voice is softened when he mutters, "Never mind," and gestures gallantly for her to go ahead of him in the queue.

The girl doesn't budge, her blush deepening from the little Jackson can see of her jaw beneath the hoodie. She bows to him timidly, as if unwilling to accept his gallantry and waiting for him to go first, but now Jackson is set on being behind her.

"Quickly," he urges, finding the words with difficulty in his rusty Korean. He had started studying Korean seriously, signing up for classes a few months after he got into GOT5, but since he never had an occasion to practice in Hong Kong he still doesn't know how to speak it fluidly. "Before someone else comes."

As if on cue, they simultaneously hear footsteps approaching behind them at a fast clip, growing louder. Jackson doesn't even turn before he acts -- this rhythm and speed can belong to none other than a rabid fan, like himself.

Before the girl can react, Jackson has grabbed her hand boldly and tugged her forward into motion, rushing towards the end of the queue.

They bump into each other as Jackson stops abruptly, and the girl's hood falls for the second time.

But this time, her hair falls off too.

Jackson gawks in horror and shock till he realises that it's not her hair that is sitting askew and sliding off her scalp -- it's a wig. For a moment, he had been worried she was a patient with a disease that had caused her head to bald -- she looked the part with her paleness and skinny, lanky figure and clammy palm -- and he had felt guilt-stricken for manhandling her so roughly.

But then he realises something even more astonishing -- she isn't a girl.

She -- _he's_ a boy.

 

Jackson makes another outraged and ridiculous sounding choked noise in his throat, eyes moving in swift disbelief down the boy's body which looks so obviously masculine now that he can't imagine how he could ever have mistook him for a female. He blames the jet-lag. He should have known something was up when this "girl" was taller than him.

The boy freezes, swivelling away from him in guilt about his deception and seeming torn between running away from Jackson's narrowed, accusatory gaze or remaining in the queue which has lengthened by a few people who are chattering behind them. The other fans are so excited and hyped up with adrenaline, even in the early morning, that no one noticed anything amiss since the boy quickly and discreetly adjusted the wig on his head and raised the hood again, looking less awkward and shy below its cover. Of course, it has nothing to do with what a convincing girl the boy makes, easily the prettiest among the cluster of gathered fans, even without a stitch of makeup. Jackson doesn't think it's weird that he noticed; it's not like he's blind.

He's about to demand righteously and nosily why the boy, who looks about his age, is cross-dressing, but on the way out of his mouth, the words die on his tongue. He almost bites it when he realises how insensitive he had come close to being. Even though this isn't a girl, he still has to have the basic courtesy of treating a stranger. A very attractive stranger. With completely clinical observation, Jackson judges that this boy is easily as attractive as any of the GOT5 members. He definitely has a significantly more masculine appearance and aura than Jinyoung and Mark -- like Jackson -- which even the wig can't disguise, but he has a quiet yet compelling charisma.

Apparently, he's a man of few words too -- like Mark, Jackson thinks as he sighs again and stops himself from his line of further questioning. He lays his suitcase down on its side on the concrete ground, then sinks down to sit on it. The boy seems to know his cover has been blown, and surprised Jackson hadn't called him out on it in front of all the other girls.

 

A few more minutes pass in stilted silence after the boy sinks down on his haunches too, sitting down tentatively with his legs crossed. Jackson takes out his phone and buries himself in it, trying to keep his eyes from straying up to study the back of the boy's hooded head with a curious frown.

But even with his naturally sociable nature, he's determined not to say a single word and respect the boy's right for privacy. Not only because his Korean is atrocious, but also because it's the boy's own business if he wanted to cross-dress and it would be mean and tactless for Jackson to expose his gender in front of all these other people.

But in the end, he's surprised when the one who can't keep his eyes from wandering, who turns back slightly a few times to sneak a curious glance at Jackson, is the boy. When Jackson catches him staring and frowns, he promptly blushes and whirls back to face the front again, the set of his shoulders tenser than before.

After the shock wears off, Jackson starts feeling comforted and less alone at finding a fellow fanboy by coincidence in the queue. He feels lucky to be next in line to this boy now. This is the first GOT5 concert he has ever attended, even though they came to Hong Kong for a fanmeeting once before. At that time he had felt pretty embarrassed and conspicuous to be the only boy in attendance. The silver lining in the cloud was that his standing out had made all the members notice him, especially Junior.

He stifles a giddy giggle as he wonders if Jinyoung will remember Jackson today from the few words and smiles they had exchanged at that fanmeet. They probably have so few fanboys that it's easy for them to remember all of them. At times like this, Jackson is grateful for his differences from the other fans.

But today... it seems he has some competition, Jackson thinks quietly, eyes finding the boy in front of him again. Strangely, though, he feels less threatened than warm, as if he has found a friend in this foreign land.

 

Half an hour has passed in boredom when the boy turns around again, peering at Jackson from beneath the hem of his hood. His eyes are keen, openly inquisitive, and his shyness seems to have ebbed away.

He studies Jackson for a few moments, their eyes catching together as Jackson gazes back at him quietly, taking in the two tiny moles above his left eye, his creamy cocoa-coloured complexion and the silent questions in his dark eyes flickering over Jackson's face. Even though they haven't exchanged more than two words, he can somehow tell that this guy is a good person.

He shifts on his suitcase awkwardly, this time the first to break the intense eye-contact. He clears his throat, expecting the boy to turn back to the front again. He is taken aback when he hears a deep voice, pitched low so that no one else will hear but louder than the first word he had spoken when they met.

"Hello."

The boy sounds as tentative as he looks when Jackson raises a startled head. He blushes again, but continues in a friendlier voice in Korean, "I'm Jaebum."

Jackson gapes, opening and closing his mouth a few times without words before he stammers a reply in halting Korean. "I'm Jackson."

Instinctively, he reaches out a hand, and the boy's eyes widen but he takes it after a beat. His palm is less sweaty than the last time now, wrapping gently and politely around Jackson's.

They let go after a few awkward seconds, but Jaebum smiles hesitantly and asks, "Where are you from?"

Jackson smiles back, thankful for his amicable question. "Hong Kong."

Jaebum looks impressed. "Your Korean is really good," he compliments with surprising glibness, and Jackson blushes this time.

"Thank you."

"Sorry for... taking your place just now," Jaebum murmurs. "I didn't see you. And thanks... for not saying anything about..." He gestures towards his hair.

Jackson quickly shakes his head, feeling his face warm. "It's no big deal! I'm sorry for being so rude earlier."

"You weren't rude." Jaebum sounds warm. "You must've gotten a shock."

"Not at all! You're really pretty," Jackson blurts out earnestly at Jaebum's bashfully lowered head. "Even prettier than Jinyoung and Mark when they cross-dress."

At his brash and impulsive words, Jaebum looks up sharply, eyes wide. Embarrassment stains his cheekbones. He looks taken aback, blown away by Jackson's unexpected compliment.

He coughs. "Thank... you?" He hesitates, before adding, "I was really embarassed to come here disguised as a girl. But I figured it would be less attention-grabbing than the last time..." His voice softened and he winces slightly at a personal recollection.

Jackson feels a jab of sympathy, the feeling of brotherhood with this new friend deepening. "You were the only boy?" he guesses, and sees his answer in the way Jaebum's face lights up with relief.

"You too?"

Jackson nods and groans at the memory. "But honestly, I never thought of the idea of cross-dressing. And even if I did, I don't think I would be brave enough. I've never cross-dressed in my life."

Jaebum's face pinkens. "It's my first time too," he admitted softly. "But..." his frank eyes move up to survey Jackson assessingly in a way that makes Jackson's breath catch slightly. "You would make a pretty girl," Jaebum pronounces decisively, sounding confident.

"Uh... thanks?" Jackson doesn't know whether it's a compliment, but takes it as one because he likes the way it sounds. Although he's never been called pretty in his life. Handsome, plenty of times, but pretty no.

Pretty has always been the word he would use to describe Mark and Jinyoung. It was one of the reasons he had fallen head over heels for them, besides GOT5's honestly dope music and the similarities he shared with Mark, with their English and Chinese background. He had been bowled over by how attractive they were and the sheer charisma and stage presence they both possessed, that it was hard not to admire them even as a guy.

A few online friends he had met on the internet had asked him with interest if he was gay, but Jackson didn't like to label himself. He had never been attracted to guys romantically before he became a fanboy, and had a few girlfriends so far. But there's just something about the five boys, especially Jinyoung, that makes him so crazy about them.

 

He wonders what Jaebum's story is, how long he has been an IGOT5 and how he got into them. And obviously, the most important question -- who his bias is.

Jackson has him pegged for a Junior stan. When he asks, Jaebum's eyes get lost in his huge smile for the first time as he nods with shy pride.

"Jinyoung is my inspiration," he says with awe thick in his voice. Jackson is resisting the urge to childishly high-five him, screaming "Me too!!!" when Jaebum continues, frowning, "But since Stop Stop It era, Mark is being so _rude_..."

He rolls his eyes, and it takes Jackson a minute to realise that Jaebum just cracked his first joke. He bursts out laughing, absurdly pleased that Jaebum has grown comfortable enough to reveal his snarky side.

"I know, right?" he exclaims emphatically, shaking his head. "He is so disrespectful, ugh..." They promptly launch into an extended list of complaints against Mark's effortless flawlessness and ridiculous android perfection, their voices rising in excitement even as they try to keep them down. A few girls nearby shoot Jaebum curious looks, seeming to realise that he might not be a girl. For some reason, Jackson feels a brief spike of jealousy at the thought of them approaching and probably, definitely being bowled over by Jaebum's good looks. Jaebum might be drawn away into their group, especially since Jackson's Korean isn't as fluent and he isn't as interesting a conversation partner.

He's not going to lose the first and only friend he made so far in Korea. So with determination, he talks and laughs louder deliberately, loud enough to drown out Jaebum's low voice. Luckily his hoodie is still pulled up over his hair and he's sitting cross-legged facing Jackson, huddled together so his face isn't very visible to the others.

After their conversation about bias-list wreckers and how they are the ultimate bane of one's existence, they debate the typical question that is a rite of passage for every IGOT5 -- how does one simply _choose_ a bias?

But they are both delighted to realise that they ship the same OTP -- duh, _Markjin is real_ \-- and Jaebum snorts so hard the sip of water he just took from the bottles a few staff who had arrived to control the queue had started passing out, almost comes out of his nose. He starts coughing violently. Jackson looks around, slightly stunned when he notices the sun is high in the sky now and it's almost midday, his stomach grumbling in hunger.

"Did you pack any lunch?" Jaebum eyes Jackson's luggage and small carry-on messenger bag. Jackson sheepishly shakes his head. His mother loaded him with a few snacks before departure, but he had finished most of them on the plane.

Now, Jaebum laughs and shakes his head too when Jackson tips his chin at Jaebum's compact backpack and asks, "How about you?"

Jaebum mock-groans. "I didn't think of it. I just packed a lot of useless stuff like hairspray and fan merchandise and my photobooks and mini-fans and my letters and gifts for them." He blushes, and Jackson resists the urge to comment that the members will probably be as charmed by Jaebum as Jackson is, that whether he gives them letters and gifts or not will be secondary.

"Should I run to a fast-food joint nearby and get us lunch?" Jaebum suggests, looking concerned. "One of us needs to stay here to reserve our places in line, and I should probably go since I know my way around better."

"You'd buy food for me?" Jackson gasps in pleasant surprise. "Gosh, thanks, hyung!" The formality slips out automatically, since they had exchanged ages earlier and although they were born in the same year, Jaebum had patiently explained the complicated Korean age system that made him the same age as Mark while one year older than Jackson and Jinyoung.

Jaebum looks flattered and pleased at the term of address too, his cheeks reddening.

"Sure," he replies. "I'll be back in a few, so wait for me." WIthout further ado, he gets to his feet nimbly and sprints away, disappearing into the distant building.

Jackson gazes after him open-mouthed, with a foolish grin still hanging on his face, before he remembers that he hadn't passed Jaebum money to buy the food.

He proceeds to fret for the next fifteen minutes until he sees Jaebum's figure reappearing, walking briskly instead of running so his hood won't slide off his head again, one hand sheepishly anchored on the top of his scalp in an action only Jackson knows is to keep his wig from slipping. From a distance, if one didn't look too hard, he could easily pass as a girl, mostly because of his good-looking face.

 

Jaebum is flushed and breathless when he arrives back at their spot, and sits down again spread-legged next to Jackson. No matter how many times Jackson tries to push a few bills of wadded-up Korean currency into his hand, Jaebum refuses to take it like he's trying to show Jackson up in gentlemanliness. He keeps telling Jackson that it's customary in Korea for hyungs to treat dongsaengs to meals. Finally, Jackson gives up the battle of egos in defeat and Jaebum looks quietly triumphant.

The queue has lengthened considerably, snaking in a haphazard fashion down the sidewalk, everyone besides them female and very feminine. The fangirls are all high-pitched squeals, revealing clothing and thick make-up, and as the sun climbs higher in the sky the cloyingly sweet aroma of perfume mingled with sweat hangs in a cloud over them. Jackson takes a relieved sip of his drink immediately, the ice-cold liquid flowing down his parched throat.

It's some kind of citron soda, and delicious. Jaebum smiles as he loudly and thirstily slurps the entire cup up in a few gulps.

"You can have mine too," he pushes his tall cup towards Jackson.

"Aren't you thirsty?" Jackson hesitates, then turns to unzip his bag and root around in it as he remembers something. He withdraws the bottle of mineral water that had come with his meal in the plane with triumph and offers it shyly to Jaebum in exchange.

It's lukewarm and half-drunk, Jackson apologises to Jaebum, but Jaebum doesn't seem to mind as his smile widens and he takes it from Jackson's hand with a murmur of thanks, tilting it to his lips to drain it, prominent Adam's apple bobbing.

 

After scarfing down their lunch -- Jackson thinks with amusement that the most telling thing about Jaebum is probably that he eats like a boy, wolfing and shoveling his food down ravenously without grace or embarrassment, like Jackson -- they continue their paused conversation without missing a beat.

The theme is still _How does one pick an OTP in GOT5?_ and Jaebum gets heated as he waxes lyrical about Markjae's beautiful hyung-dongsaeng bond as well as how underrated 2young and Jingyeom are and obviously, how shippable BamBam is with everybody in a way that is more convincing and profound than most of the fanfictions Jackson has ever read.

"Do you write fanfics by any chance?" he ventures, a wild guess, but the way Jaebum's face pinkens shiftily makes him crow. "Holy shit, you do!"

"I've only written a few, in Korean!" Jaebum hurriedly clarifies. "So I'm pretty sure you haven't read them." He looks annoyingly smug that Jackson will never be able to read his fics, and Jackson pouts petulantly.

"Do _you_?" Jaebum shoots the question back, changing the subject smoothly. Jackson shakes his head glumly, subdued for once, but Jaebum continues earnestly, "I heard there are many good English fanfics; I wish I could read them."

He looks so wistful that Jackson has no idea why he blurts out, "Do you want me to read one to you?"

He feels, for an instant, like Cather in _Fangirl_ by Rainbow Rowell (a book which is a guilty pleasure he will never admit on the record to reading) reading to Levi -- but it's absurd, of course, because Jaebum is very literate and probably tons smarter than Jackson (although he didn't brag, Jackson can just tell by how articulately he expresses himself and expounds on his thoughts) -- though in some ways, Jaebum does have the sexy high forehead, tall dark mysterious lazy charm and warm, hooded dreamy gaze thing going on as he listens to Jackson read out one of his favourite English Markjin fanfics with rapt attention.

A short one, so he won't get hoarse. And something fluffy, not smutty because that will be beyond awkward and embarrassing, reading gay smut out loud to another boy, in public. This current situation he finds himself in is something Jackson definitely did not see coming when he got off the plane at Incheon Airport this morning.

Still, he finds himself enjoying Jaebum's immediate and expressive reactions, highly amused by his laughs and muffled chortles as Jackson reads the funny and cracky parts and the way his eyes grow serious at the angsty, emotional ones, glazing over with the slightest sheen of moisture. Jaebum is so much more open and full of warmth than he had looked at first glance to Jackson, and Jackson is intrigued.

It's his first time translating a fanfic in real time and reading it aloud at the same time, so it's a little tricky especially since his Korean isn't that good but Jaebum is patient, never pressing him to go faster even when he reaches the climax or takes a few moments to ponder how to express an English idiom or metaphor in Korean.

 

After about an hour (four times the span it took for him to read the fic himself), he finally, triumphantly reads the final line, pronouncing the last word with a flourish. He feels extraordinarily proud, as if he had written the fic himself, and much more confident about his Korean skills. He had no idea he had the ability to translate an entire short story from English to Korean until Jaebum had encouraged him to try. Perhaps this is a viable career option in future, Jackson thinks, the possibilities racing in his head.

Jaebum seems to agree, breaking into his dazed reverie with a loud and unabashed clapping. Jackson blinks back to reality to see Jaebum's mouth hanging open, looking impressed and so full of awe that Jackson blushes.

"Wow," Jaebum breathes. "That was really something else."

The honest admiration in his voice tells Jackson he isn't exaggerating or flattering him, and he feels a swell of warmth glow in his chest.

"Well, I didn't write it..." he clarifies self-deprecatingly, but Jaebum quickly replies, "I wasn't talking about the quality of the fic! It was good, but I've read many other equally good fics. I was praising your translation and reading skills."

"Reading skills?" Jackson echoes, and Jaebum smiles, eyes gleaming as he leans forward in excitement.

"Yes!" he nods vigorously. "Hasn't anyone ever told you you have a wonderful speaking voice? I don't know, it was just so nice to listen to..." He trails off dreamily, as if reminiscing.

Jackson's face heats up blotchily. He has always enjoyed singing, but no one has ever told him that they liked listening to him speak before. Most of the time, his friends would more likely chide him teasingly in jest to stop running on like a motormouth because he could never stay quiet for more than a few minutes before he was off and babbling again.

"Do you really like hearing my voice?" he asks shyly, lowering his eyes to the ground, but not before he sees Jaebum's face dust slightly pink too and his head jerk down in a nod.

"Thank you for reading my first English fanfic to me," Jaebum murmurs, so softly Jackson has to lean forward to catch it. "I'll never forget it."

 

Sometime along the way when he hadn't noticed, the crowd outside the concert venue had thickened and ballooned, as more and more people rapidly joined the queue till there were too many to count. The afternoon sun is pretty sweltering, especially after a long day without shade (some of the more intense fans had pitched tents to camp out in, but Jaebum only had a small umbrella they had propped beside them to shield them from the heat), but Jackson can't help feeling a surge of camaraderie in his heart for these loyal fans of the same boyband he is smitten with, all speaking a different language from him but sharing the same love and adoration for their five beautiful idols.

Most of all, in the span of less than half a day, Jaebum has already taught him the meaning of the Korean word _hyung_. Before he arrived in Korea, Jackson had known of the word but he had never known of the exact meaning, the physical feeling of having an actual hyung. He had many friends of the same age or older in Hong Kong, but he can safely say that none of them have ever taken care of him so protectively and gently the way Jaebum has in the short time since they met each other. He doesn't know how to express how grateful he is that from the time they exchanged ages and Jaebum found out he was a mere few months older, he had immediately adopted a caring and warm attitude towards Jackson, his eyes wordlessly but indulgently calling Jackson his _dongsaeng_.

Someone has switched on a portable stereo system and started playing GOT5's entire discography, from Girls Girls Girls all the way to their latest, biggest hit FLY. Many fans are singing along, swaying emotionally from side to side and raising their lightsticks in the air, adding more fan spirit to the whole atmosphere. More than a few girls have gotten weepy and started tearing up, blubbering and being comforted by their friends, but since Jackson is a boy he doesn't have that luxury. He tries his best to blink his eyes rapidly so they will stop stinging, and swallows over the lump in his throat.

When he looks over at Jaebum, his throat is working too, eyes red-rimmed, as if he is doing the exact same thing.

 

Ten minutes later, Jackson discovers that Jaebum knows all the lyrics of Like Oh and Stay (both the Korean and Japanese versions) by heart and can do the hip-thrust body-wave _thing_ in the Angel choreography.

They must be soulmates.

 

Some of the other fans fall asleep when the late afternoon drowsy heat wave rolls over them, but Jackson doesn't feel a single urge to let his eyes drift closed, because how could he miss a single precious minute of talking and laughing with Jaebum, swapping stories about their lives and histories as if they are old friends? Although he shouldn't be, Jaebum feels so familiar and unfamiliar to him at the same time that it makes Jackson's skin tingle.

He discovers that Jaebum is in his second year of university, a film arts major minoring in psychology, and that his favourite groups besides GOT5 are Miss A, Twice and 2PM. Although Mark and Jinyoung have famously openly admitted to being fanboys of the saccharine sweet and innocent girl group GFriend and are even rumoured to have a stage in this very upcoming concert covering their hit song Me Gustas Tu, Jackson and Jaebum high-five for the tenth time that day after they discover that both their favourite girl group is the edgy and sexy-cute Red Velvet. Jaebum belts out a few verses of Dumb Dumb, sounding so glorious that Jackson almost weeps.

 

It's seven in the evening, a whopping twelve hours after they first met when a cry that rises and swiftly sweeps over the entire congregation like wildfire alerts them to the fact that the entrance doors to the concert hall have been thrown open. A staggering number of fans have turned up to support the boys' first concert in Korea, just the start of a mind-boggling number of stops throughout the world. This international concert is going to be a phenomenon that goes down in history, and Jackson is so indescribably proud to be here, right in the middle experiencing it personally on the very first day, together with the five boys he has loved for two exhilarating and eventful years now from their debut to breakout through every comeback, as they take their very first baby steps into the next phase of their fame.

He struggles to his feet, feeling rejuvenated and powered up despite the exhaustion dragging down his limbs, and promptly stumbles unsteadily because his legs had fallen asleep a few hours earlier.

Luckily, he feels a firm and strong chest behind his back, Jaebum's arms wrapping reassuringly around his shoulders as he catches Jackson before he falls.

"Take it easy. I got you," Jaebum says quietly in his deep voice, and his smiling eyes glimmer warmly at Jackson in the moonlight.

Jackson flushes at the sensation of Jaebum's statuesque, muscled frame up close against his, thankful for the cover of darkness. He shifts away carefully, regaining his balance and bends to pick up his luggage but Jaebum grabs the handle of his suitcase without warning and starts dragging it behind him, walking ahead without waiting for Jackson.

"Hey!" Jackson pants breathlessly at his heels, catching up. "What are you doing?"

Jaebum turns with a smile. "We're both in the VIP section, right? Don't you want to sit next to me?" He looks slightly nervous, eyes darting down in the dim in a way that goes straight to Jackson's heart.

"Of course!" he blurts out. "Who else would I sit next to?"

Jaebum melts into a relieved smile that transforms his face breathtakingly. "Then let's hurry so we can get good positions for the photo session later," he replies, picking up his pace.

Jackson beams giddily and obediently hurries after him in the thronging crowd of overexcited fans, but he is surprised to realise that sometime during the day, it had become less important whether he was the first in line or could get the best place in the group photo. He feels less competition and rivalry with the other fangirls, in fact feeling glad and relieved he hadn't gotten an earlier place in line because if so, he wouldn't have met Jaebum. Everything had turned out perfectly in the end.

 

When they find their seats, Jaebum gallantly taking the one right beside the aisle so Jackson won't have to be jostled by other people, Jackson gasps. The front-row view is completely unobstructed, divine. Sinking down onto the plush luxurious cushion of the chair, he thinks with contented bliss that this was totally worth the wait, especially since the wait itself had been so unimaginably enjoyable. He can't imagine what he would have done today had he not met Jaebum. Definitely, he would be feeling much more lonely and less happy now.

As the fans in the other sections filter in orderly, the buzz of excitement constant and building up, a filler video starts playing on the screen -- Mark, Jinyoung, Youngjae, BamBam and Yugyeom's faces blown up in stunningly high-definition, larger than life against a background of blood orange flames. Along with the other fangirls, Jackson starts screaming like a deranged cow whose ovaries have combusted until Jaebum whispers into his ear that Mark's beastly expression looks a little like he's constipated and he starts screaming with laughter instead.

Looking at the hordes of preteen fangirls around him, their shrieks of " _Oppa!_ " ringing in his eardrums, Jackson feels for a fleeting instant too old for this, this toeing-the-edge-of-being-tacky nonsensical filler video screaming the members' names and the way he suddenly realises, like a bucket of ice water emptied over his head, that what on earth has he just done did he seriously just fly all the way from Hong Kong across oceans to a completely foreign country just to attend this concert he is in way, way too deep to be sane -- and in the midst of all the pandemonium, he starts silently having a tiny mental breakdown.

 

But then, all of a sudden, he hears a bellowing noise from his left, a bizarre and creepy guttural noise that sounds like something a beached whale would make, and he spins around in shock to see it emitting from Jaebum's surprisingly wide mouth.

The sight is so disorienting that he misses the grand and anticipated appearance of the members rising onto the stage from a hole at the bottom, too busy bending over to clutch at the stitch in his stomach as he makes out what Jaebum is wailing: "Oh my god, Choi Youngjae looks so much more fine in real life!!!"

It only takes this to jolt Jackson back into his zone, back into the fevered fanboy who pleaded and whined till his parents gave in and let him fly across Asia to attend the concert of a boyband they had long suspected was making him question his sexuality, because he was their beloved son; back to the manic and grimly determined fan who was so set on getting the best seats that he had arrived twelve whole hours earlier to start queuing; back to the nondescript, plebeian commoner whose life had been totally and utterly transformed simply because of the fact that he had spent every free minute he had in the last two years memorizing the lyrics to GOT5 songs, watching every single video and interview and reality and variety show on Youtube he could find, and purchasing overpriced fan merch and USBs and even the Dream Knight DVD.

That, and the green ocean that suddenly spreads as far as the eye can see, as all the lights of the place are flicked off simultaneously and all the fans' lightsticks are suddenly visible, glowing in the dark like beacons. The feeling of exhilaration is almost tangible, building up to a fever pitch as hypnotic stage lights play over the five members, now throwing them into shadow and then silhouetting their princely profiles, teasing and baiting the fans with their deep resonant voices.

 

Because although sometimes (most of the time, actually) it may seem crazy and juvenile, this overgrown fanboy is none other than _him_ , Jackson Wang, and he has to own it. He wants to own it like Jaebum, unashamed and fiercely proud, wearing his wig like a badge of honour and doing whatever he has to do to blend in attending the concert and keeping a low profile. Jaebum is so surprisingly brave despite his reserved exterior, has been taking Jackson's breath away with his unexpected courage ever since seven that morning when he had taken the initiative to strike up a conversation with Jackson, making the first move. And since then, he had taken care of Jackson so carefully that Jackson felt inordinately at home in this country where it was his very first day here.

He has received so much from every one of these five boys, so Jackson realises that he mus'nt be afraid to show that he is giving back everything he has in return. That he would go to any expense, leap through hoops of fire just to see GOT5 in the flesh and show his support to them. Even though he is merely one of many, this group has always been more special than the rest, seeming so personal and intimate and down-to-earth like his very own friends that he never felt any distance or the distinction between idol and fan.

 

There are no words he could possibly find to describe the experience of hearing GOT5 sing and dance live -- Jinyoung's heartbreaking, dulcet voice; Mark's deep and soul-shaking bass; Youngjae's impassioned and pitch-perfect vocals; Bambam's energetic and effortless sultry rap; Yugyeom's bad-boy rapping and his angelic falsetto -- so Jackson won't even try.

He isn't good in weaving pretty words like Jaebum, favouring more crass and less romantic ways of expressing his emotions. Such as screaming himself hoarse, into oblivion; so loudly that tears ooze out from the corners of his eyes and his throat aches with the welcome raw edge of pain that grounds him to tenuous reality and tells him that this is real; he is here, beside Jaebum with Jaebum's arm having crept around his shoulders sometime when they hadn't noticed and both of them jumping up and down in sync to the beat of Turn Up The Volume and Put Your Hands Up.

 

By the end of the concert, their voices (and bodies) are so wrecked that they are reduced to making a pathetic bleating noise that sounds like whimpering newborn lambs. But they don't regret a single minute of it.

 

Jaebum produces a box of lozenges from his magical all-containing backpack and offers a few to Jackson, himself popping them religiously as if they will miraculously restore their voices by the time it's their turn to high-five the members.

Mercifully, enough of their voices return for them to croak in a barely comprehensible tone. Jackson notices with more than a little jealousy that while he sounds dreadful, Jaebum amazingly sounds sexier with this new husky and hoarse voice.

"You sound absolutely fine, actually you sound really --" Jaebum is midway through reassuring him when a deep voice sounds out from behind Jackson.

"Hey."

Jackson isn't even exaggerating, he feels his eyes grow to the size of literal saucers as he pivots around slowly, filled with consternation and disbelief, to see Mark Tuan in the flesh, looking slightly taller than Jackson (he knew it! their profile heights were true!) and very amused.

"It's rare to meet male fans," he says in a disarming drawl, eyebrows raising appreciatively as he offers up his steady and masculinely large palm for a high-five. His skin looks unblemished and probably feels as deliciously soft and smooth. Jackson trips over himself to high five Mark like a dork.

From beside him, Jinyoung bows a sweet and touchingly polite goodbye to the fan before them, and turns his attention to Jackson.

"I remember you!" he pipes up in excitement, almost knocking his chair over in his haste to get up. "From the Hong Kong fanmeet, right?"

Mark reaches up to jokingly restrain him, patting his shoulder calmingly to settle him back in his seat and Jackson and Jaebum exchange loaded looks, mouthing _Markjin is real_ to each other. A series of camera flashes and screams blind and deafen them in agreement.

Jackson is having so much fun, he doesn't even remember to swoon and pass out over how fantastic Jinyoung looks in real life, impossibly gorgeous and godly like an angel on earth.

But then he vaguely and belatedly registers what Mark just said -- male _fans_? Plural? The last time he had checked, Jaebum was still wearing his wig...

 

Jackson whirls around, doing a double take, not caring that he is wasting his precious interaction time with Jinyoung and Mark spending more than half of it staring at Jaebum instead -- to see with horror that Jaebum has taken off his wig for the first time that day.

And if Jaebum as a girl had been striking enough that Jackson would have put his moves on her if he had passed her on the street, then Jaebum as a guy...

"Holy shit," Jackson swears under his breath at the almost unrecognizable boy standing before him, no longer sweet-faced and pleasant-looking but now a total hunk of beastliness with his jet-black hair spiked with sweat in adorably disheveled tufts, matted bangs falling into dark dark eyes.

Jaebum blinks at his muttered oath, looking confused, as Mark exclaims, "Hey, what's your name?"

"Jackson," Jackson replies on autopilot, forcing his dazed gaze back to a flushed Mark, who is leaning forward with genuine interest. "I was wondering this from the previous fanmeet... but can you by any chance speak English and Mandarin too?"

All Jackson can do was nod, feeling Jaebum's silent presence from behind him, the heat of his body as Mark gasp and breaks into a delighted smile that far outshines any of those he has seen in the countless videos he's watched.

"That is so awesome," Mark is gushing, sounding far more chatty than the image Jackson had of him. "We're like, spirit animals."

Jackson sees Jaebum's eyebrows shoot up from the corner of his eye, and senses what he's thinking -- that Mark is being uncharacteristically friendly because Jackson is a fanboy and therefore, harmless.

Still, it obviously feels heavenly to be the focus of Mark Tuan's attention. It's like a spotlight beamed directly on him, so bright is Mark's physical presence.

Before Jackson can add to his pathetically paltry contribution to the conversation so far, maybe use a few more Chinese and English words, as well as pass Mark the gift he had prepared, Jaebum is elbowing him out of the way so he shoves off balances and lands in front of Jinyoung.

Mark follows him with his eyes, looking confused but Jaebum promptly crowds forward towards the table, leaning in with a singlemindedness that takes up all of Mark's field of vision.

Jinyoung is gaping at them looking bemused, but he immediately picks up where Mark left off with his trademark skill at working the crowd. Jackson can't see what Mark and Jaebum are doing or hear what they're saying as Jinyoung starts chattering with him like they're old friends.

"I was so shocked you flew to Korea to support us. Have you been doing well since the last fanmeeting?" he asks warmly in sexily accented English, eyes trained sweetly on Jackson and smile genuinely curious and concerned, and this finally snaps Jackson attention back to him.

It's equally dizzying, conversing one-to-one with Jinyoung -- something that he has dreamed of so many times, it seems unreal now that it's actually coming true. He manages to slip both Jinyoung and Mark's gifts to him (promptly whisked away by their manager hyung) but later on, for some reason, Jackson can hardly remember what they talked about for those few minutes before Jaebum finally moved on from Mark and he had to move on to BamBam because they were holding up the line. Luckily, now that Jaebum has taken off his wig the other fangirls don't look too resentful or jealous of them monopolizing the boys' attention, seeing them as no threat.

But although BamBam is his third favourite member after Jinyoung and Mark, Jackson finds mysteriously that again, he can't concentrate on their exchange, because his attention is drawn towards the low conversation Jaebum and Jinyoung are having next to him, in their own world. They are both talking in rapidfire Korean, too slurred for Jackson to decipher and he abruptly realises with a pang that all day Jaebum had purposely been talking in very slow and concise Korean so that Jackson could understand, that it wasn't his usual style of speech.

Now, he feels ridiculously bitter and left out as Jinyoung giggles at something Jaebum says, adorable eyes crinkling into half-moons as he unleashes his patented eye-smile on Jaebum and Jaebum just about melts into a puddle of goo.

To be accurate, he actually just laughs his deep, charming laugh in a totally unaffected and cool way, but that's even worse because now it makes Jinyoung's eyes widen and sparkle with an intrigued gleam Jackson doesn't like.

Before he knows what he's doing, he's abandoned BamBam midway through his awkward monologue and moved quickly towards Jaebum, snatching the wig out of his hands hidden behind his back.

As Jinyoung watches with open-mouthed bewilderment, Jackson plunks the wig back onto Jaebum's head in the most unflattering position he can muster, interrupting the slow seductive spread of Jaebum's own eye-smile across his devastatingly handsome face.

An awkward silence falls for a few excruciating heartbeats.

... Before the girls after them are pushing forward from behind, eager to meet Mark, and Jinyoung is looking at Jackson with laughing eyes and a knowing glint in his smile that makes the pit of Jackson's stomach drop.

He swallows hard and quickly tears his eyes away, returning his attention to poor BamBam who looks absolutely crushed at being overlooked for the first time since the start of the fanmeet, and thus promptly redoubles his efforts to charm Jackson's pants off.

 

The high carries them all through the whirlwind chats and well-wishes with the rest of the members, then out of the venue from the swirling horde of people into the night growing steadily quieter and quieter as Jaebum walks Jackson to the taxi stand.

They can't stop gushing and marvelling over how friendly and warm and nice and -- _human_ \-- all five of the members are in real life, how utterly without any superstar airs or pretensions. It's unbelievable, surreal. Jackson can't believe that such perfect and flawless specimens of humanity exist, and know of his existence.

He finds himself praying that a taxi will not arrive for a long time, his heart speeding up every time he sees car headlights sweeping across the asphalt but only slowing when they don't stop on the relatively tranquil road.

He doesn't want to leave Jaebum. Not just yet.

But when Jaebum asks him gently where he is headed and if he has a place to sleep for the night, brow creased in concern, Jackson's heart flips and he whimpers something about heading back to his hotel to crash before his morning flight the next day.

It must be a trick of the moonlight and his imagination, but Jackson thinks for a nanosecond that a flicker of crushed disappointment chases swiftly across Jaebum's inscrutable face at the news of him going home.

"Well... I guess that's your cue, then," Jaebum says with a wry smile as a taxi pulls up, looking like Jackson's worst nightmare. He feels a lump rise in his throat, on the verge of tears.

Jaebum gazes steadily at him, as if commiting his features to memory.

"Bon voyage," he says softly. "I... had a lot of fun today, Jackson-ah."

It's the first time Jaebum has called his name. Jackson doesn't know whether it's his name that sounds so tender and gentle in the Korean language, or just the way Jaebum says it.

"Me too," he sputters unattractively. "I'm really glad I met you, hyung."

Then the driver is popping the trunk and Jaebum picks up his heavy luggage effortlessly, heaving it in. The trunk shuts with a slam that rings with finality and Jaebum stands over him, looming quietly as Jackson helpelessly ducks to fold himself into the open taxi backseat.

 

Neither of them say anything as Jaebum closes the door and the taxi drives away.

 

Jackson turns his phone over and over in his sweaty palm after a restless, sleep-deprived night as the last passengers board the plane and the stewardesses start prepping for takeoff, passing out blankets and hot towels and headphones. He can see the landscape of Korea out of the window, and surprisingly instead of feeling happy to be returning home he already misses it.

It's five minutes before the intercom fizzes to life and booms, "This is your Captain speaking. Our flight from Korea to Hong Kong will be departing shortly. Please switch off all electronic devices and fasten your seatbelts," when Jackson's phone vibrates in his slippery hands.

He opens the message with shaking hands, heart roaring in his ears.

It's from the number he had saved as _Im Jaebum_ , and attached is the selca they had taken with Jaebum's phone at two-thirty on the day of the concert. Jackson had forgotten to ask Jaebum to forward it to him, but he was relieved they had taken one with his own phone as well.

Now, he sees that he was wrong. Because Jaebum's selca is completely, heartstoppingly different from his. While they were both looking at the camera in his, the selca attached to Jaebum's message shows only Jackson gazing at the camera with a laidback grin on his face, the kind of grin he only manages when he's with someone he really likes and is genuinely having fun -- while Jaebum is gazing at him without a hint of a smile on his face, instead looking stricken and lost and helpless. As if he is gazing at something so hopelessly beautiful and precious that he knows with utter devastation and certainty that he is going to lose.

Jackson's heart is a thundering bass drum in his chest, because he was so wrong when he assumed that Jaebum's personality and face was wooden and inexpressive.

Jaebum wasn't inexpressive in any way, at all. It was just that he was being purposely guarded, careful and wary not to show Jackson his true emotions.

 

Confirming his thoughts, the message reads: _Jackson-ah, I debated for a long time whether to send this to you, but eventually decided to. I hope I'm not making a mistake I'll regret forever, but somehow I feel like I'll regret more if I don't let you know how I feel._

 _If... maybe... you feel the same way, or even if you just want to be friends, I would be so happy if this wasn't the end for us, even if we live in different countries. I would be so grateful if we could still talk, sometimes, online. Just so I'll know if you're fine, safe, happy and healthy even though we're far apart_.

Below is a list of Jaebum's social media accounts, his Facebook and email and Twitter and Kakaotalk and LINE and Instagram (most of them, Jackson is amused to note, variations of Defsoul or Bart) and even his personal cell phone number, as if he wants to provide Jackson as many ways to stay in contact with him as possible.

The message is short and simple, but the emotion in it is crystal clear. Just like Jaebum himself, how he never dresses up but just slays everybody effortlessly with his inborn treasury of charm. Jackson feels an unidentifiable emotion blossoming in his chest as he fanatically reads and rereads the message with a dedication that has only been inspired by GOT5 so far.

 

Jackson is so thankful he made this trip all the way out from Hong Kong, despite it initially seeming like something that wasn't worth the trouble. Because if he hadn't ventured out of his homeland, he wouldn't have met Jaebum. He wouldn't have had the opportunity to receive Jaebum's kindness, to know that someone as unbelievably beautiful as Jaebum existed in this world.

As the plane taxies and lifts off the runway, an epiphany dawns on Jackson: that Jaebum embodies everything he has gained from being a fanboy. And not just a fanboy, but a fanboy of GOT5.

It's something that isn't superficial, immediately visible to the naked eye. It's indescribable, inexpressible in clumsy language. But for him, it was never just about adulation and worshipping idols. It was about something deeper and more profound -- the friendships he had forged, both online and offline, the miraculous and amazing way he had bonded time and again with people halfway around the world, oceans and time zones away from him simply through their shared and common love for these five inspiring boys. Mark, Jinyoung, Youngjae, BamBam and Yugyeom had brought them together into a community that was so tightly-knit and united that it was as strong as a nation unto itself, in its own right. And this, Jackson thinks, more than anything else, showed how much power these five seemingly unremarkable boys possessed and wielded, a power that could sway millions of hearts in every corner of the world.

 

He can't switch his phone on again until the plane lands, but Jackson doesn't need to because Jaebum's face is etched as clear as day in his mind's eye. It's true, Jackson thinks, that life can change in just one day, by meeting just one person, if it's the right one. The way Jaebum has altered his life irrevocably by walking into it, no disguises or mirrors or smokescreens -- just as himself, as he is.

Jaebum isn't a celebrity or any of the idols Jackson has chased after all his life. But even without a single sprinkling of stardust, a stitch of makeup or concealer or contouring or designer clothing and accessories, he's the brightest star Jackson has ever seen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this was actually supposed to be part 07:00 of my ongoing jackbum fic 24 hours but it got way, way longer than i expected till it couldn't be called a drabble anymore so i decided to post it as a standalone. dedicated to chris who is also one of my favourite jackbum stans but i completely forgot to mention in the other fic when you even wrote a fic for me before i'm so sorry i love you TT and yes the title is from one of the few 1D songs i know but really like lol. thank you so much as usual to everyone who takes the time to read this whole thing, i really appreciate it


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> warning: for real cross-dressing this time lol

You know that feeling when you just met someone, but feel like you've known them all your life?

That's how Jaebum makes Jackson feel. It's been two months since they met, and every new thing Jackson discovers about Jaebum only makes him fall deeper. It's kind of amazing, because usually as one gets to know a person, they end up disappointing you or fall short of one's ideals. But for Jaebum, it seems like the opposite. Every new quality Jackson finds out about him makes him more perfect.

Maybe it's because they're communicating through a computer screen and not face-to-face, but Jackson doesn't think that's it. They've been chatting every single day without fail since he followed Jaebum on all the social media accounts he had the moment the plane touched down. Even though it was two in the morning for him, Jaebum just as immediately followed back.

Right away, they continued where they had left off at the concert without missing a beat. Jaebum sounded just as witty and adorable and attractive online as he did offline, and even more humorous. He seemed to find teasing Jackson immensely amusing, and even started flirting with him in a cocky way Jackson wasn't sure he had seen at the concert.

It made his pants feel too tight.

 

Thankfully, the time difference between Hong Kong and Korea is only one hour, so they're in similar time zones and have more time to chat. But even though technically they live in the same continent, sometimes, because of the distance, it still feels like Jaebum is halfway around the world. Jackson wishes that he had touched Jaebum more on the day of the concert, maybe even hugged him, just so that he would have the memory of the texture and temperature of Jaebum's skin now.

As it is, he can only rely on his (very fertile) imagination.

 

With every day that passes, they seem to talk for longer and longer hours, never getting bored of rambling to each other about the most mundane things and exchanging slightly flirtatious and teasing banter. Sometimes they get so wrapped up in each other that they lose track of time, and when Jackson looks at the clock he is surprised to see that it's almost morning.

Initially, they spend their time mostly fanboying about GOT5 and crying about their inhuman perfection, but gradually they start segueing into discussions about their real life, their day at school and their families and friends. When Jackson tells Jaebum earnestly that he wants to know everything about him, there is a pause before Jaebum replies with a bashful emoticon: "Me too."

Both of them have a large number of followers and online friends, but because they've already met in real life, they seem to skip over all the getting-to-know-each other parts right into being BFFs. Because everything Jaebum says is retweet-worthy to Jackson, his numerous retweets naturally lead one of his closest online friends, Jae (who he coincidentally also knows in real life from his Korean classes and whose English is better than his Korean even though he's ethnically Korean and is therefore in the same school as him, but the intermediate class) to become curious about Jaebum and send him a follower request.

Seeing that Jackson is following him, Jaebum follows back and Jackson is slightly jealous but mostly thrilled to see them getting along like a house on fire. Presently, he gets to know one of Jaebum's friends, Wonpil too -- but this time he's the one who takes the initiative to follow him because Jaebum retweets him a lot and Jackson is curious and slightly envious. Naturally, the four of them get into an uproarious group conversation together and Jae and Wonpil promptly follow each other.

 

Because he finds himself thinking of Jaebum more and more, even when Jaebum is still in afternoon classes and hasn't logged onto his social media to reply Jackson's messages, he finds himself doing some online sleuthing.

Namely, through Jaebum's photo album on Facebook, his Instagram posts, and old tweets. Jackson derives an inordinate amount of pleasure from this activity, finding a younger Jaebum's past look and the things he talked about incredibly adorable. When he realises he's unconsciously scrolled as far back as Jaebum's 2012 tweets, he starts feeling creepy.

But not enough to stop. Next, he finds his hand itching to read Jaebum's infamous fanfics he had wondered so much about. In the past two months (owing a lot to Jaebum's efficient tutelage) his command of Korean and especially Hangul has improved by leaps and bounds and now he is extremely proud of the fact that he can decipher enough to navigate Korean websites, albeit very slowly and clumsily.

He finds Jaebum's account after much difficulty and trying all the variations of Defsoul and Bart (honestly, Jaebum is so predictable). He isn't sure if it's Jaebum at first, but after he reads a few fics he's pretty sure. Jaebum is actually an impressively good writer, and Jackson feels proud of his "bae".

 

When Jaebum logs on to Twitter, he is immediately flooded with DMs from Jackson.

" _in which jinyoung is an actor and mark is a stunt double_ ," Jackson sends, with a greasy emoji, and Jaebum's reply immediately follows.

"!!!!!"

"OMFG WANG JACKSON HOW DID YOU FIND THAT"

"YOU ARE SO CREEPY"

"DONT READ IT"

Jackson finally manages to stop laughing enough to type a response: "too late :B"

Jaebum doesn't reply for a few minutes after that, and Jackson starts getting worried. His stomach is still aching from laughter though.

He sends a few emojis to nudge Jaebum, but doesn't apologise.

In the end, he caves and types out an unwilling apology, grumbling all the while, simply because Jaebum refuses to stop ignoring him till he does.

 

"Be serious," Jaebum chides Jackson for the nth time, and Jackson giggles. He's still feeling giddy after a few days, the novelty not yet worn off. He can't believe they hadn't done this earlier, but he's so happy they started Skyping because seeing Jaebum through a video call is a wholly different experience from messaging him online.

Neither of them had Skype accounts, but Jackson had suggested they sign up for one in the guise of wanting Jaebum to start giving him official Korean lessons.

Previously, Jaebum had been helping him with his Korean in a casual way, by telling Jackson what certain phrases meant or typing the Hangul out for him to learn when he asked. But a few days ago, Jackson had announced that he had a new ambition: to become an English-Korean translator or teach in an English language school in Seoul.

"Does that mean you'll be moving here?" Jaebum had asked immediately, and when Jackson sent back a nodding emoji in response Jaebum's ecstatic reply of "OMG!!!!!!!" was instantaneous.

 

They've exchanged selfies a few times since the concert, but this is the first time they're video talking in real time and Jackson doesn't know if it's the webcam effect but Jaebum looks way, way more gorgeous than he remembered, even in his homewear of ratty tee and scruffy denim jeans. His hair has grown longer in the last few weeks and he keeps pushing his bangs impatiently out of his eyes (which are comically serious and intense as he lectures Jackson) when they fall in. It's distracting as hell.

"Are you doing body-building?" Jackson blurts out apropos to nothing, interrupting Jaebum's ramble about adjectives and verbs.

"What?" Jaebum looks up in confusion from his textbook, looking flustered and slightly irked when he realises Jackson hasn't been paying attention.

Jackson blushes and quickly backpedals. "Nothing," he mumbles. "It's just, I was wondering because your biceps look, um, thicker..."

Jaebum's eyes widen at his words, and move down to look at his arms. He studies them curiously, rolling his sleeves up and flexing them slightly to see what Jackson is talking about, and Jackson nearly has an orgasm.

He chokes, falling off his chair. Jaebum looks up at the clatter, leaning forward to peer into the screen. "Jackson-ah, are you okay?"

Jackson gets to his feet and rights the chair, face beet red.

Relievingly, Jaebum doesn't seem to notice his heightened excitement. His own face looks slightly more flushed too as he mutters, "Yeah, I've been lifting weights. You noticed?" He brightens slowly, a pleased grin tugging at the corners of his lips.

Jackson curses and waves his hand offhandedly. "Not really." He tries to look indifferent.

"Oh." Jaebum sounds disappointed. He rolls his sleeves back down again, looking embarrassed, and Jackson grips the edges of his chair tightly, nearly letting out a cry of anguish.

"Why would you _lift weights_?" he squeaks in a soprano pitch which scares himself slightly. He hadn't known his voice could go that high.

Jaebum shrugs, but his face is still red. "Didn't you tweet recently that you like Mark when he's buffer?"

Jackson gapes. He hadn't even known Jaebum had seen that tweet because he tweeted like a hundred times a day (sometimes till he got jailed) and Jaebum hadn't replied to it or liked it.

"But that's Mark!" he starts, and winces at the way Jaebum's face falls.

"So you don't like me buffer?" he mutters testily, and Jackson hastens to appease him.

"Of course I do, hyung!" He's relieved to see Jaebum crack a smile at the endearment.

"But don't get too buff," Jackson warns sternly. "I don't want any cute girls at your university noticing you." He plays it off as a joke, but it's actually been a secret preoccupation of his for some time now.

Jaebum laughs with genuine delight. "You know I don't have eyes for anyone but you," he drawls, eyelids falling to half-mast as he leans forward and his face fills the screen. It kind of takes Jackson's breath away for a second. It's unfair how Jaebum makes sexiness look so effortless, how he just does things to Jackson's heart that he's pretty sure aren't healthy.

What can he say? Their relationship is still in its puppy crush phase, and he's just a horny twenty-two year old boy who reads way too many NC-17 gay fanfics.

 

To get back at Jaebum, an hour later when the lesson is coming to an end and Jaebum is finishing up his eloquent and teacherly monologue, Jackson murmurs in a sultry voice, "Jaebum hyung."

Jaebum looks up, brow creased, and promptly freezes into a JPG image when he sees Jackson lifting the hem of his shirt teasingly, flashing a glimpse of his taut stomach.

Jackson leans forward in concern, wondering if the screen has frozen, when he hears a low groan emitting from Jaebum's mouth. His stomach drops, heat pooling at the pit when Jaebum's tongue slips out of his mouth to lick his chapped lips.

"Jackson," Jaebum says in a low voice. "This is bad. This is really bad."

"What's the matter, hyung?" Jackson asks innocently with part-amusement and part-concern, leaning closer to get a better look at his pale face.

But without warning, the call ends as Jaebum's Skype window closes, leaving a pouting and cockblocked Jackson with his sexual frustration.

 

He doesn't give up on his campaign to wear Jaebum down, instead redoubling his efforts. There's nothing he's ever enjoyed more than a challenge, and Jaebum's the biggest challenge Jackson's ever faced.

A few days later, he's working on an assignment Jaebum has given him, nibbling on the end of his pencil in concentration as he tries to translate the list of Hangul words Jaebum had set for him. On his end, Jaebum is silent as he patiently waits, but after a few minutes Jackson gradually becomes aware of a noise like heavy breathing.

When he looks up, frowning, Jaebum jumps visibly, a shiver rippling through his body.

"Hyung," Jackson says, setting down his pencil slowly.

"W-what?" Jaebum looks like he's sweating nervously, unable to meet Jackson's eyes. His face is unnaturally flushed, eyes glazed over and unfocused.

"Show me your hands," Jackson demands, heart speeding up.

Jaebum looks pained, his breathing still harsh and audible. Lamely, he raises his right hand to the screen.

"Where's your left?" Jackson demands like a bossy girlfriend. He sees Jaebum's Adam's apple bob up and down in a dry swallow.

"Oh my god. Is your hand in your pants?" Jackson shrieks incredulously, the pencil falling from his hand. It rolls off the edge of the table into his lap and it suddenly feels like he could come from just that, he's so ready to ignite and implode into a thousand pieces at just one touch just by looking into Jaebum's darkened, dilated pupils and knowing his hand is on his dick.

"Jackson, I'm sorry --" Jaebum pleads, sounding terrified as Jackson scrambles to close the window so he can stand up and dash to the bathroom without Jaebum seeing the tent of his crotch. "I've just been feeling so weird after that day --"

Jackson curses as he cuts Jaebum off at the most important part, almost slamming his fist onto the table in frustration. What had Jaebum been about to say? Now, he would give an arm and a leg to hear the rest of his sentence.

As it is, all he can do is to rush to the bathroom, knocking over everything in the way, to furiously take a cold shower.

 

After that fateful afternoon, the secret is out. The awkwardness and sexual tension between them mounts, growing palpable and thick enough to cut with a knife as they continue Skyping each other every day.

Finally, as expected, Jackson loses his cool first, the tension building like a tightly-strung rubber band into an outburst.

"Hyung, we need to talk."

Jaebum raises his head warily from his Korean textbook. "Talk about what?"

"Jaebum hyung," Jackson says plaintively, catching his eyes. Jaebum gazes into his eyes quietly, waiting for him to speak. He still seems on tenterhooks after that day, as if worried Jackson will be angry with him for jerking off without his knowledge. "Please," Jackson says now, his voice breaking under the strain without knowing how to go on.

"Are you mad at me?" Jaebum finally asks in a small voice, sounding torn. He flinches when Jackson nods. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have --"

"No," Jackson cuts in, his voice husky. "I was angry because you didn't let me join in."

"J-join in?" Jaebum whispers hoarsely. Jackson leans closer and he backs away a little as if afraid.

But Jackson nods vehemently. "Do you think you're the only one who's in agony?" he babbles, impassioned. "Don't you know how crazy you make me?"

"Jackson..." Jaebum says after a shocked beat, an octave deeper. It makes Jackson shudder with want.

"I have desires too. I have needs too," he rants on, unable to stop.

"But..." Jaebum whimpers.

"Hyung, I'm your boyfriend. It's okay to do whatever you want with me. To me."

"But... you're my dongsaeng..."

Jackson can't help but let out an impatient and disgusted noise. "Jaebum," he says, looking straight into Jaebum's dark eyes and dropping the _hyung_ deliberately. "I think you've forgotten, but I'm only three months younger than you."

Jaebum swallows, holding his eyes for an instant before they flicker down to his lips, with hunger.

"What do you want?" Jackson challenges daringly, letting his tongue slip out to run over his lips and wet them. He hears Jaebum's sharp intake of breath through the speakers, ratcheted up to maximum volume.

"I want..." Jaebum's voice is so deep, Jackson trembles.

"Do you want me to take off my shirt?" Jackson prompts, when Jaebum seems too embarrassed or speechless to continue.

Jaebum nods wordlessly, but his eyes flare wider, training on Jackson's torso.

They grow round, unblinking as Jackson grabs the hem of his shirt with both hands and slowly lifts it up over his shoulders in a clumsy striptease. He hears Jaebum make a strangled noise at the back of his throat as he tosses it to the side and faces the screen topless.

"Aren't you going to take yours off?" he prompts with entitlement, and is surprised but not unaroused when Jaebum answers in a slightly more authoritative tone of voice:

"No. Unzip your pants."

 

Jaebum rattles the first package Jackson has ever sent him by airmail eagerly, listening for the sound it makes with intrigue. Jackson had warned him not to open it in front of his family and wait till they were Skyping, partially because it might raise awkward questions but also because he wanted to see Jaebum's reaction when he opened it.

But when he carefully tears open the wrapping and uncovers the box, Jaebum groans in mortification.

"What is it with you and cross-dressing?" he whines as he gingerly takes the set of girl's clothes out of the box -- a red and blue maid-costumelike pinafore complete with matching set of black knee-high stockings, white shoes and oversized hair ribbon.

Jackson squeals. "Isn't it adorable?" he trills.

Jaebum squints at him, narrowing his eyes. "Jackson," he deadpans. "Do you have a kink I should know about?"

"Uhh..." Jackson averts his eyes shiftily, then puts on his best puppy-dog expression. "It was really expensive; I busted my life savings on it."

"Did you ask me if I agreed to wear it?" Jaebum shrieks in indignation (one to talk after he's the one who gave Jackson this fetish), but ten minutes later he's sitting awkwardly with his bare knees together, legs tucked demurely under him in front of the screen, clothed in the entire set of clothes.

Jackson can't believe his eyes. He can't process, could never in his wildest imagination have dreamed how _stunning_ Jaebum would look, the glossy hair of his wig tumbling loosely over his shoulders, catlike eyes made smoky with a touch of mascara and sensual, thin lips popping with just a coat of cherry lip gloss. He looks so edible Jackson wants to lean forward to lick his screen.

"What?!" Jaebum yelps, colouring crimson, and Jackson immediately blushes blotchily too.

"Did I say that out loud?"

Jaebum glares at him, face scarlet and looking flustered. He looks so adorable, shifting uncomfortably in the short skirt so he won't flash a glimpse of his underwear, that Jackson's heart tightens with a pang.

"You seem pretty turned on yourself," he retorts, flashing a bratty grin at Jaebum and relishing the feeling of having the upper hand for once. Because Jaebum can never say no to him, it's surprisingly easy for Jackson to get him on his metaphorical knees, at his mercy.

"What are you talking about?!" Jaebum sputters again, looking outraged and blushing more fiercely.

"Nothing," Jackson drawls, enjoying the way Jaebum is biting his lip in nervousness. "I just noticed you didn't throw away the wig," he points out innocently.

Jaebum growls low in his throat, looking ready to murder Jackson. "Can I change out of this now?" he barks.

Jackson bursts out laughing. "Oh, baby," he says, heart racing at the way Jaebum looks when he hears the pet-name, "I haven't even gotten started with you yet."

 

"Hnnghh," Jackson hears, or something that sounds like it, as he walks out of the bathroom in only a towel after his second cold shower of the day, rubbing his hair dry.

He spins towards the source of the noise, suddenly panic-stricken.

His heart drops to his stomach to see his Skype window still open, Jaebum sitting there and staring into it like a creeper or a pervert watching him through the window with his eyes bulging like saucers.

"What the fuck?" Jackson shrieks. "Didn't we hang up already?"

Jaebum blinks, though he still looks post-coital in that way Jackson has come to know he looks after a satisfying session of masturbation.

"Didn't you leave your webcam on on purpose?"

"Why would I do that?!" Jackson nearly screams, wary of his parents hearing and knocking on his door but unable to stop internally freaking out.

"Oh." Jaebum looks disappointed but guilty now, but Jackson is too scandalized to care.

"Oh my god." He drops his face into his hands, desperately trying to remember what he did after he thought he had hung up the video call and before he entered the bathroom to bathe. Jaebum hadn't even breathed a word or alerted him earlier to the fact that he could still see Jackson, just sat there silently watching him. Jackson feels so betrayed; he hadn't known Jaebum could be so artful. "I feel so violated. My life is over."

"Don't be melodramatic," Jaebum harrumphs, although he sounds mildly apologetic. "I thought you said I can do anything I want, since you're my boyfriend." He says the last word so shyly that Jackson almost forgives him.

"Not watching me without my knowledge!" His soprano pitch comes out again, hysterically.

Jaebum shrugs carelessly, as if Jackson's life hasn't just been ruined and he can't face his boyfriend anymore.

"If it makes you feel better, I promise you didn't do anything embarrassing. In fact, I found everything you did really... erotic."

Jackson's jaw is on the floor. He had no idea the word _erotic_ sounded so... erotic in Korean. Or maybe it's just Jaebum's low bass that makes every word he says sound so risque.

"I'm logging out," he says flatly, and Jaebum looks crushed.

"Okay."

"Don't do that," Jackson snaps.

"Do what?"

"Make that stupid sad face."

"... Okay."

"Ugh. Fine. What do you want?"

Jaebum brightens like a lightbulb, a sly glint entering his eye Jackson decidedly does not like.

"Can you take off that towel?"

Jackson shrieks for the countless time that day when he realises that in the hubbub, he's forgotten to put on his clothes and is still clothed in the skimpy towel, hanging low from his hips and slipping precariously down his pelvis.

 

After that day, somehow, they both start leaving their webcams on the entire day, not closing the Skype window. Jackson finds that he doesn't mind Jaebum watching him as long as he's aware of it and doesn't do anything that looks stupid or embarrassing. It feels nice, like Jaebum is in the room with him, casually making comments as he moves around his room, doing his homework and tidying his stuff and listening to music and surfing the net. Even when Jaebum isn't around, Jackson will never tell him but he sometimes enjoys peering into the room and drinking in the details of Jaebum's neatly organized, minimalistic and stylish room, an extension of his personality.

Mostly they just stay in silence, but it feels less lonely, being able to glance at the laptop screen anytime to see Jaebum's room and what he's doing. (Once, he nearly chokes on his spit to catch him doing push-ups, corded ropes of his upper-arm muscles glistening with sweat.)

They don't even switch it off when they go to sleep at night, the computer screen a warm phosphorescent glow in the darkness of his room as Jackson imagines he can hear Jaebum's rhythmic breathing evening out as he drifts into slumber an ocean away, one hour into the future.

 

Jaebum bursts into his bedroom and onscreen breathlessly one afternoon, looking pissed.

"What the hell were those selfies you spammed me with on Snapchat today?" he yells into the Skype window.

jackson walks over to his laptop slowly, suppressing laughter. "What's wrong, hyung?" he blinks innocently.

Jaebum crashes down into the chair in front of his computer, breathing hard. He runs a frustrated hand through his hair.

"Do you know how hard you make it for me to concentrate in class?"

He shrugs off his backpack and tosses it to the side of his desk, groaning. Up close, Jackson can see his faint dark-eye circles, similar to the ones on his own face because of the late nights they have been keeping to spend more time with each other. Seoul is one hour ahead of Hong Kong, but Jaebum stays up with him without complaining of tiredness till he falls asleep every night. The tension between them has been running high as even the phone-sex sessions they have on Skype every day, dirty-talking each other to orgasm, have started feeling like not enough.

"I'm sorry," he says meekly, partially in penitence and partially cheekily. "I'll stop sending them."

There is a beat, before Jaebum groans, dragging his hand through his tufted hair again. Jackson bites his lip, wanting it on his body so badly.

"No, don't," he says in a muffled voice.

"What's that?"

"Don't stop," Jaebum mutters submissively, the tables turned in an instant. Jackson smirks with quiet satsifaction.

"You liked them, huh?"

"Why are you doing this to me?" Jaebum complains bitterly, sounding like a petulant child throwing a tantrum. Jackson resists the urge to coo at his pout.

"Payback for not telling me my webcam was still on," he counters sweetly, deliberately dragging his thumb over his lips and watching the way Jaebum's eyes follow it.

He bites his thumb, looking up through his eyelashes at Jaebum's eyes. They smoulder.

"Fuck my life," Jaebum says darkly in English, and gets up to slam into the toilet for another of his bathroom breaks that has been growing more frequent lately.

Jackson curses, closing his own window for a few minutes of privacy. He should never have taught Jaebum that swear word, because Jaebum sounds way too hot to be legal cussing in English.

 

On one of the rare occasions they're making an exorbitant long-distance video call with their phones, Jaebum accidentally tilts his phone so Jackson suddenly has a very clear view of his naked crotch.

"Holy fuck," he mutters under his breath, as Jaebum makes a panicked screech and quickly rights the phone, his face looking like a boiling lobster when Jackson sees it again.

"S-sorry," he stammers, unable to meet Jackson's eyes. It's weird, but despite their almost daily webcam-sex sessions they've never actually... seen each other's dicks. At least not up close. Sometimes Jackson would teasingly stand up to flash Jaebum a blurry and baiting glimpse of his hand on his cock with his pants and underwear pulled down, to get him more aroused, but Jaebum was more shy and Jackson had been hesitant to ask for some reason too.

Besides, Jaebum's face when he comes and the noises he makes alone are erotic enough for Jackson to come very quickly, and even multiple times, every single time.

It's only now that he realises what he has been missing.

"What?" Jaebum asks, the frenzied up-and-down motion of his arm stilling and sounding defensive and vulnerable now that Jackson has gotten a close-up of his cock, engorged and pink, even his fingers wrapped around it unable to affect the impact of the view.

"Your dick..." Jackson starts in a hoarse whisper, and sees Jaebum wince as if prepared for a cutting remark. "... is really big."

A heavy silence falls, before Jackson hears his own words and blushes furiously.

Jaebum blinks at him, looking stunned. His face is the same scorching magenta shade as Jackson's.

"Why do you sound so surprised?" he eventually says, sounding slightly miffed.

Jackson nearly laughs at how bruised his ego sounds, but disguises it as a cough and feigns an offhand shrug. "I just... didn't expect your dick to be so big because your hands are... small."

"WHAT?!" Jaebum totally stops jerking off now, seeming to lose his mood as he leans so menacingly close to the screen that Jackson backs away in alarm.

"What did you just say?" Jaebum's voice is threateningly low in a way that makes Jackson's cock jump in his own grip, his skin tingle nervously.

He tries to keep his calm, tossing his sweat-matted bangs out of his eyes to stare back at Jaebum defiantly. "My hands are bigger than yours," he states.

"Bullshit," Jaebum fires back like a whip. He seems inordinately fired up about this topic.

"The last time we held hands, my hands could wrap around yours," Jackson counters righteously, but Jaebum bristles with indignation.

"Your hands are pretty big, but mine are at least the same size."

"Fine, let's compare them when we meet," Jackson sighs, relenting.

"Better yet, let's measure them now," Jaebum challenges. Jackson doesn't know where this sudden competitiveness came from.

In the end, the rest of their webcam session for the day is adjourned as they spend the rest of the hour childishly measuring the length of their palms from finger to wrist with rulers and debating whose are bigger.

(Jackson's are, but Jaebum is as stubborn as a mule, refusing to concede defeat and admit it. Until Jackson agrees to show him his dick.)

 

"Unff," Jackson hears a suspicious muffled noise as he scarfs down a box of fried chicken gracelessly in his fitted black wifebeater, legs splayed sloppily on his bed.

He pauses and looks up at the camera, leveling his eyes at Jaebum through it.

" _Seriously?_ " he deadpans in disbelief, but his face is burning.

Jaebum blushes unapologetically.

"It's all your fault," he grumbles miserably, hand not stopping its frantic strokes. "You've created a monster."

Jackson burps, then cackles in glee. "How'd you like that?"

"I just came," Jaebum replies drily.

Jackson relents and closes the empty box, advancing towards the camera as he licks his fingers clean. Jaebum breathes a pained sigh, eyes riveted on him.

"Come on," Jackson says fondly, beckoning him forward with a seductive finger as he settles down before the computer. "Let me help finish you off, hyung."

 

For their second month anniversary, Jaebum sends him a package. When Jackson opens it, he's astonished to find a body pillow with a blown-up high-definition photo of Jaebum's face tucked into the transparent pocket on the head, a greasy smile plastered on his face.

"You look like some creepy ahjussi perving on innocent wittle me," he complains snarkily to Jaebum, but hugs it to sleep that night anyway and uploads a selfie with it on his Twitter the next day hashtagged _jackbumisreal_  and _realerthanmarkjin_ and _2monthswithjackbum_.

 _So romantic!!!_ Wonpil immediately replies supportively, while Jae replies him, tongue-in-cheek, _You spelled disgusting and gross wrongly_.

Jackson blocks him and logs onto Jaebum's Twitter too (he had changed his password a week earlier to _xmrswangx_ after Jackson promised to send him another dick selfie) and blocks him there too, despite Wonpil's weak attempts at mediation.

 

FLY in Hong Kong is three months after FLY in Seoul, and Jackson asks Jaebum with bated breath whether he can possibly come.

"Sorry, aegi-yah," Jaebum says regretfully, his rare usage of the pet-name telling Jackson how truly apologetic he feels. "I have school, and I doubt my parents will allow me to leave the country."

Jackson can't help pouting unhappily, though he tries not to let Jaebum see how eager he had been and how disappointed he really is. It had felt significant, special to him that they attend the Hong Kong stop of the tour together, after meeting at the Seoul concert had brought them together. But he tries to be an understanding boyfriend and just smiles brightly.

"It's okay, hyung. I understand."

 

On the day of the concert, he's picking his outfit, trying to keep his spirits up although it feels different, lackluster going on his own. He's arranged to meet and queue with Jae at the venue, but Jaebum's absence and the distance between them feels especially conspicuous and gaping today.

He hears the doorbell ring distantly, but ignores it till his mother calls up the stairs a few minutes later, "Ka-yee, your friend is here to visit you!"

Jackson's heart leaps into his throat. It can't be... but Jae just texted him five minutes ago to confirm their meeting location and time.

He races down the staircase, taking the steps two at a time, skidding in his socked feet. He's still half-dressed in the matching concert tee they purchased together at Seoul concert, and jeans, hair unkempt and disheveled but he doesn't even have time to run a shaking hand through it.

 

When he throws the door open breathlessly, his knees nearly give out to see Jaebum standing outside, towering over him and looking like a daydream in his matching dorky GOT5 tee.

"Surprise," Jaebum smirks; and oh God, how could Jackson have forgotten how traffic-stoppingly, dangerously sexy he was? He thinks he might need CPR as he stands there frozen and hyperventilating.

Then Jaebum is stepping forward boldly into his personal space, longing and missing in his eyes, his arm sliding smoothly into the dip at the small of Jackson's back, aligning into the contour of his body as Jackson arches his back eagerly up to meet him as if it fits right there.

Jaebum pulls Jackson flush against him, eyes soft and dark, lips tugging up in a mischievous smile. And then they are kissing, their lips melting together.

Their first kiss, three months after they met.

It's every bit as amazing as Jackson had imagined, and more.

 

"Okay, okay; wait a moment," Jackson pants, pushing Jaebum away slightly as they break apart and bracing his hands on his chest to keep his balance. Jaebum is gazing at him with quiet adoration, eyes filled with laughter and happiness.

Jackson blushes and ducks his head into his chest shyly. He squirms, but Jaebum doesn't let go.

"What am I going to tell my parents?" Jackson frets. "'Yo Mom and Dad, sorry I didn't tell you but I've been dating a hot Korean boy and by the way he's right outside the door to meet you'?"

Jaebum quirks an amused eyebrow, looking unruffled. "That works," he hums, voice low. His eyes flicker playfully down to Jackson's lips again, and Jackson swats him weakly. The force of Jaebum's charisma definitely did not translate fully through a computer screen.

 

"Mom, Dad, I have to tell you something," Jackson says grimly and flatly as he plods into the living room. He sounds like he walked out of a cliche eighties teen movie.

His mother looks up, sighing in resignation.

"We already know, son," his father says gravely. "You're gay."

"How did you know?" Jackson yelps. "And by the way, Ihaveaboyfriendtoo," he blurts in a rush.

"We know that too," his mother replies sympathetically.

Jackson stares. "You do? Okay, well, his name is Jaebum," he adds slightly anticlimactically.

"Jaebum?" his mother looks up sharply, then turns towards his father in baffled confusion. "Was there a member in that Korean boy group named Jaebum?"

 

After a lot of convoluted explanation and flustered introductions and awkward and polite bowing, Jaebum is finally admitted into the house as Jackson's mother lovingly bustles to prepare snacks with an acceptance that brings a lump to Jackson's throat.

But he's too giddy to dwell on that now, standing beside Jaebum on the threshold of his bedroom and seeing his childhood room through Jaebum's eyes.

Jaebum leans back on his heels, hands shoved suavely in his pockets as he gives Jackson's room a once-over with his intense and observant eyes that miss nothing. He lingers on Jackson's Star Wars action figures and laughs softly.

"You're so cute," he says, smoothly slipping his hand over Jackson's and locking their fingers together. Despite the fact that the last time they conversed online was merely yesterday and Jackson always has a lot -- too much -- to say, standing before Jaebum in the flesh, he feels strangely tongue-tied.

 

The Hong Kong stop of GOT5's first official solo concert tour is as phenomenal as their Seoul one. But curiously, what Jackson remembers with much more clarity later than the frenzied blur of the experience is the quiet of Jaebum's hotel room after it ends, and they take a taxi to the hotel Jaebum is staying in for a night before he flies back to Seoul the next morning in tense silence. There's an electricity between their bodies almost visceral enough to feel, sizzling when their skin brushes by accident.

Jackson's stomach is twisted in knots and his pulse hasn't stopped racing all night.

 

The moment Jaebum lets them into his room and closes the door they're kissing again, hands scrabbling at each other's clothes as their noses bump and teeth knock and faces mash together. Jaebum's tongue is shoved deep in his mouth, dragging across his and Jackson hears himself groaning like an animal in heat.

Jaebum grinds his pelvis against Jackson's and backs him towards the bed till the backs of his knees hit it, then gazes deep into his eyes.

"I want to fuck you now," he says, voice low and asking for permission, and Jackson can only nod, throat dry.

But he manages to stop Jaebum a few breathless and heated minutes later, gasping, "Did you bring... your dress?"

When Jaebum nods, eyes glittering, heat rushes to Jackson's groin.

"Will you..." he lifts his eyes to Jaebum's and peeks through his lashes coyly in a calculated move, hand moving down to fondle Jaebum's bulge, "wear it for me later?"

Not taking his eyes off Jackson's, Jaebum moves his own hand down to cover his, holding it against his crotch as he snaps his hips forward and grinds against Jackson's palm roughly, inhaling at the friction.

"If you're a good boy," he smiles, voice seductively husky.

Jackson inhales sharply and closes his eyes, until Jaebum pins him to the bed with his thighs spread on either side of his body, pushes Jackson's shirt over his elbows, and starts mapping a loveline from his nipples to his happy trail with his tongue.

He buries his hands in Jaebum's hair, gasping and moaning as he writhes under him.

Jaebum undresses him of his jeans, then his hand finds Jackson's ass and caresses his cheeks. His finger presses against Jackson's quivering hole, cold and slippery with lube.

"Do you have any experience?" he asks, voice wrecked and worried.

When Jackson nods, his face changes and darkens, before Jackson hastily clarifies, "Only from reading fanfiction!"

At these words, Jaebum's smile broadens slowly. "I see," he says, looking positively like he's laughing at Jackson inwardly.

Jackson blushes, but is stunned when he manages to disarm Jaebum with just his next three words.

"Hyung... be gentle."

 

They make love for the first time in a luxuriously soft and large hotel bed in a four-star hotel in Hong Kong. It happens in a place Jackson would never have imagined losing his virginity, with a person he would never have imagined losing it to.

It's perfect.

See the Light is playing low on the stereo system, the song they had always unanimously agreed was GOT5's best track of baby-making music.

After that, lying in Jaebum's arms panting raggedly and spiraling down from his high, Jaebum accuses Jackson of coming during Mark's rap part. Jackson retaliates without missing a beat, accusing his thrusts of getting particularly vigorous during Jinyoung's part.

Neither of them mean it, but they feel relieved because it helps to hide their vulnerable feelings at exposing themselves completely to each other for the first time.

Jaebum puts on his dress, as promised, doing it ever so slowly and letting Jackson help him into it, one article of clothing at a time; and Jackson discovers that he may have a cross-dressing kink.

But it's okay, because Jaebum probably has one too.

"I hate you so much," Jackson sniffles shakily, burying his face in Jaebum's chest and inhaling his scent greedily.

Jaebum's laughter rumbles beneath his ear and his heart aches so much he forgets how to breathe for a moment.

"Me too," Jaebum whispers sleepily, burying his nose in Jackson's hair and cuddling him closer.

 

He's thankful he had remembered to bring his oversized sunglasses the next day, hiding his red-rimmed eyes behind them as he sees Jaebum off at the airport.

They awkwardly and stiffly hug goodbye, like the day Jackson was leaving for his hotel in Seoul in a taxi. But this time, Jaebum clings on reluctantly a second longer.

As Jackson is turning to walk away from the boarding gate, he hears his name being called.

He turns to see Jaebum rushing forward dramatically, long legs eating up the ground like the male lead in a K-drama.

"I have to tell you something," Jaebum pants, breaking out into a pale sweat.

Jackson nods mutely, heart halting.

"Jackson-ah," Jaebum says softly, heart in his eyes. "I love you. I know it's only been three months since we met, and we live in different countries, and speak different languages, and that we're both boys. But you're just so loveable that I... can't help loving you."

Jaebum's eyes are wide and imploring, his voice desperate and raw. The fists his hands are balled up tightly into at his sides don't loosen until Jackson peels off his shades coolly like a K-drama lead too and promptly bursts into tears.

"Jaebum hyung... I love you too."

 

The next time they meet, it's Jackson's turn to catch Jaebum unawares. He had applied for an exchange program from his university's to Jaebum's the moment they started their relationship months ago, and waited so long for the approval.

But the look of unadulterated delight on Jaebum's face as he breaks into a run to close the final distance between them, taking a running leap to launch into Jaebum's open arms, is completely worth the wait. Jaebum is worth every wait, worth every distance Jackson has to travel to reach him.

It's been five months since he met and fell in love at first sight with Jaebum, but every day still feels like the very first one. Will he ever get used to it, Jackson wonders? Will his heart ever not start hammering the moment their eyes meet; will he stop feeling nervous around Jaebum and start feeling confident and relaxed?

He doesn't think so. But that's because even after all this time, Jaebum still takes his breath away.

 

He wonders where they will be ten years later, if they will still be together. By then, the idols they had chased together, manufactured images designed by dream factories, will probably have faded, brilliant and dazzling but as impermanent and fleeting as stardust and confetti. What will remain, at the end of this long and glitzy road, are the unbreakable ties that have been formed, the relationships that had been created so innocently without knowing they would be so strong and last so long.

Jackson looks at Jaebum, firm and real and solid, steady as a rock. Jaebum is Jackson's future, his forever; but Jackson will also never forget the precious past and the road behind him, and the five boys who had led them to find each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter is dedicated to Nydia_ahgase89, MyNameisSomi, cutekyunnie and jaebumsbird, my bae daria and my baby nionte, as well as all the people who left me kudos on chapter 1! this sequel was supposed to be fluffy idk how it became mature lmao i blame jackbum's natural ust... fun fact the markjin fic i mentioned "in which jinyoung is an actor and mark is a stunt double" was actually written by me lol (tho i wasn't trying to praise my own writing orz) its titled fossiled flowers and can be found at my gotchickoldfics comm on livejournal if you're interested in reading it! also if you like my jackbum you can check out the only other jackbum i've ever written it's a time travel au and is also in the same community. thank you so much once again to everyone who reads both chapters of this fic and supports this verse ;u;


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